novamade: quixotic celebrator

March 26, 2008

quixotic celebrator

Quixotic, is quite possibly, my favorite word in the English language. It has a "Q," and an "X" and ever since I was able to assemble it on a Scrabble board with someone else's "C" I have been a fan. Aside from all that, it is the word that best describes my way of celebrating birthdays. You (and I) never really know what kind of fun I will come up with. Special K thinks it's a little crazy, the lengths I go to to celebrate a birthday, but I disagree. I think birthdays should be celebrated with great fervor. Sometimes it takes a little work to celebrate just the way you want. But who says work can't be fun?

After seeing this great birthday banner that Rae put together, I knew I had to make one for Little Sir and the celebration of his second birthday.

I saw all sorts of potential for the banner and using the distribution of letters from Scrabble as my guide, I made a whole bunch of letters (see first photo). Should I ever have the opportunity to meet and throw a party for a Quincy, Xavier or Zarathustra (you never know), I totally can. And I can do it in a very colorful way.

It was easy (albeit a bit time consuming, because I did 64 letters--plus one exclamationa point-- you don't have to do that many, but you totally could) but it was fun, and really I will take advantage of any excuse to whip out the hot glue gun (but with this project, I found cutting the letters out by free-hand to be kind of the best part). I cut out sets of felt circles in 3.5" and 3.75" glued them together with a folded ribbon in the middle. And, like Rae, I used ric rac for suspension. And because I wanted to go crazy with color, I used 14 colors of felt (I left a lot of colors at the store, so I think I showed some restraint here). That's a ton of fun for very little moolah. You should make a banner too, you will be glad you did.

And I do have to apologize, if you came here looking for pie today. I gave myself on out this week, or rather, it was a bye week for pie. Because for birthdays, most people (especially if I am involved in the equation) get cake. Little Sir is sort of a minimalist when it comes to desserts (sadly). He usually opts for plain fresh fruit but he knows how to celebrate right and asked for a "banilla" cake with "banilla" frosting.

And how fabulous is my new cake stand?!

For me this meant a classic white cake (best white cake recipe I have made to date) with buttercream frosting (the kid and I just made the frosting up as we went along).

Because he was helping me make the frosting I have no idea how much confectioner's sugar he scooped into the bowl, so I added butter, heavy cream and vanilla until it tasted good and looked spreadable.

His enthusiasm for fire is not just a little concerning.

A little imprecise, but it was fun and tasty, so whatever.

I also wanted to make a quilt for the kid's birthday, but sometimes you have to cut your losses (so much for quixoticism).

It became apparent to me that I would not finish this quilt in time, so I am saving it for the weekend (because it's just an excuse to drag the celebration out even more, in my opinion--yay for being quixotic!).

So yes, it was a lot of work, but really when your kid thanks you with kisses, it's totally worth it.

Posted at 12:03 PM in baking, diy, finished object, Food and Drink, little sir, quilting, sundry | Permalink

Comments

I love your Scrabble approach to banner-making (I'd be tempted to do some extra red and green letters for Christmas purposes, but then I'm addicted to Christmas decorating). Also, Little Sir's T-shirt is fabulous.

I have been looking for a cake stand like that one for some time... but will just have to keep on.

Posted by: kicking_k | March 27, 2008 at 11:05 PM

I LOVE the banner! I don't think you can go wrong making too many letters either, since most people celebrate birthdays more than once. You can totally use it in the future. Gotta love function. Love the ribboned cake stand too! So cute!

Posted by: AJ | March 27, 2008 at 11:56 PM

LOVE IT!!!!!!!! That's such a great idea. I'm a bit quixotic about birthdays too....how sweet that he was able to have that imput about his banilla cake.
May I ask (Beg) you....where did you find that hybrid Big Wheels shirt? I must have one!!!

Posted by: AmyH | March 30, 2008 at 07:23 AM

i didn't realize how close in age our little guys are. john turned 2 on march 15th. anyway, i LOVED reading the post and especially LOVED the adorable pics of Little Sir. SO sweet. the cooking and apron pictures in earlier posts are also adorable. what a lucky pair you two are to have each other.

Posted by: Haley | March 30, 2008 at 04:16 PM

Happy birthday to Little Sir! I can't believe he's two already... And I am so stealing that banner idea for Peanut's birthday this summer, it's so cute and happy! xoxo

Posted by: Karma | March 31, 2008 at 12:44 AM

Have I commented on this post yet? Why on earth can't I remember? Probably because I keep coming back to it to enjoy. Happy Birthday to your guy. And I can't be the only one who is totally going to steal the banner idea.

Posted by: Mandy | March 31, 2008 at 02:21 PM

Love the banner. Happiest of birthdays Little Sir!

Posted by: Felicia | March 31, 2008 at 06:40 PM

A very happy birthday to Little Sir!

The banner and cake look fabulous. I'll have to check out the white cake recipe. If I meet the mother of a little Zarthustra; I'll be sure to give her your blog address.

Posted by: Brenda | April 01, 2008 at 07:11 PM